"To require surgical anatomical changes as a pre-condition to participation is not necessary to preserve fair competition and may be inconsistent with developing legislation and notions of human rights."

But this new change comes with stricter rules for certain transitioning athletes.

According to documents published by the committee, competitors transitioning from male to female must declare they are transitioning at least four years prior to competing in the new category.

Per the guidelines, these athletes also must have low levels of testosterone in their system:

"The athlete's total testosterone level in serum must remain below 10 nmol/L throughout the period of desired eligibility to compete in the female category."

While this stipulation might sound restrictive, the IOC is making sure not to segregate any transitioning athletes.